Miscellaneous unorganized material/WCTI-TV
WCTI-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Inner Banks area of Eastern North Carolina that is licensed to New Bern. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter north of Trenton along NC 41. Owned by the Bonten Media Group, the station operates Fox affiliates WFXI/WYDO (owned by Esteem Broadcasting of North Carolina, LLC) through a shared services agreement (SSA). The stations share studios on Glenburnie Drive in New Bern. Syndicated programming on WCTI includes: Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld, Inside Edition, and Oprah . Digital programming WCTI offers This TV on a third digital subchannel and Time Warner digital channel 106. It is on Suddenlink channel 168. History The license for this station was granted in 1954 but sign-on was delayed almost a decade. This was largely because the military was concerned that the tower's height would interfere with the operations of the numerous military installations located in Eastern North Carolina. Also, WRVA-TV in Richmond, Virginia (now WWBT) was concerned about possible short-spacing. All objections were eventually overcome and the station took to the air on September 7, 1963 as WNBE-TV. The calls became WCTI-TV in 1970. The station has been an ABC affiliate since its inception. When it signed-on, the Greenville/Washington/New Bern market became one of the smallest DMAs in the country with three commercial network affiliates. In 1980, WCTI erected a 2,000 foot tower located near Trenton to allow greater coverage throughout eastern North Carolina including the Outer Banks and part of Raleigh. The station's original tower, located at its New Bern studios, is still used as a backup. In 2007, Newport License Holdings (a part of Bluestone Television) was sold along with the latter to the Bonten Media Group. WCTI launched the first over-the-air digital station of the market on UHF channel 48. A high definition feed was launched on DirecTV on January 30 2009. It is also available on satellite through Dish Network. WCTI shut-off its analog signal on June 12, 2009 at 12:10 in the afternoon. On this date, the station returned its digital broadcasts to its former analog channel. WCTI-DT3 Prior to September 18, 2006, WCTI-DT3 was a UPN affiliate known on-air as "UPN 48" after the digital channel number. This could also be seen on DirecTV channel 13, Dish Network channel 48, and Suddenlink analog cable. When UPN and The WB merged into The CW, CBS affiliate WNCT-TV chose to carry the network on a new second digital subchannel. After losing UPN, WCTI-DT3 became an independent station known as "ENC-TV". This aired syndicated programming such as: Trivial Pursuit: America Plays, Family Feud, Entertainment Studios, and Extra. Weeknights at 8, there was a prime time movie. At one point, "ENC-TV" maintained a website at "enc.tv" but this was abandoned. In late-Summer 2009, WCTI-DT3 began to add programming from This TV eventually becoming a full-time affiliate. News operation Generally, CBS affiliate WNCT and NBC affiliate WITN-TV trade the ratings crown. As of July 2008, WNCT is the ratings leader in the market after taking first place weeknights at 6 and 11. [2] Unlike most ABC affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, it does not air local news weekday mornings at 5 or weeknights at 5:30. The nightly 10 o'clock newscast on WFXI/WYDO, originally known as Fox News at 10, was produced by WNCT until December 2007. In January 2008, after Bonten started its management of the two stations, it was replaced with a rebroadcast of WCTI's nightly 6 o'clock show. It then relaunched its 10 p.m. broadcast produced by this station with a new news music graphics package on January 28. In addition to its main studios, WCTI operates bureaus in Jacksonville (on Johnson Boulevard) and Greenville (on Old Tar Road). On June 27, 2010, the station began airing local newscasts in high definition becoming the first in the area to do so. [3] Newscast titles *''Action News'' (1970s) *''TV 12 News'' (1980s-2005) *''NewsChannel 12'' (2005-present) Station slogans *"The News Leader" (1980s-2005) *"Coverage You Can Count On" (1997-2008) *"Accurate and Reliable" (2008-present) News team Anchors *Kara Coleman - weekday mornings and Noon *Annette Newell - weeknights at 5 *Wes Goforth - weeknights at 6 and 11 *Valentina Wilson - weeknights at 10 *TBD - weekend mornings *Aisha Howard - weekend evenings and reporter StormTrack 12 HD Meteorologists *Skip Waters - Chief seen weeknights *Les Still (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings and Noon *Dominic Brown (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekend mornings and severe weather reporter *Michael Craig - weekend evenings Sports *Brian North - Director seen weeknights at 6, 10, and 11 *Derek Bayne - weekend evenings Reporters *Mike Licquia - Craven, Jones, and Pamlico Counties *Carly Swain - Jacksonville Bureau Chief *Elitza Bizios *Anna Bulszewicz *Alizé Proisy *Jon Erickson Former staff *Colleen Maloney - news anchor weeknights at 5 *Erin Connolly - weekend morning anchor and news reporter *Bill Sutton - weekday news reporter *Kristin Sommer - news reporter *Allison Sossaman - now at WPTY-TV Logos References #'^' http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=18334#station #'^' http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6579887.htmlLink 3 #'^' http://www.wcti12.com/News12.asp External links *WCTI-DT channel 12 *WCTI-DT mobile *WCTI-DT3 This TV *WFXI/WYDO "Fox Eastern Carolina" *Query the FCC's TV station database for WCTI-TV